US stocks finish higher on trade thaw, post weekly gains

US stocks surged on Friday, and posted weekly gains after the US and China announced a partial trade deal in addition to positive remarks from Washington.

The US and China announced today an interim agreement or some sort of a truce to the trade tensions after a 2-day round of high-level talks which may lead to a final agreement.

President Trump praised the deal, and said that the two countries had come to a substantial phase one deal, adding that he will meet with the Chinese vice premier to talk about trade relations between the two countries.

The US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that this round of the trade talks were constructive, and announced that the tariffs hikes decision on Chinese imports will not go into effect next week.

Otherwise, the US Federal Reserve announced today a plan to purchase short-term treasury bills worth $60 billion a month until the second quarter of 2020.

In the oil market, WTI rose by 2.2% to close at $54.7 a barrel, and posted 3.6% weekly gains, with a session-high of $54.8 and a low of $53.6.

Brent gained 2.4% to $60.51 a barrel, and posted a weekly gain of 3.7%, with a high of $60.6 and a low of $59.2.

Dow Jones jumped 1.2% or 320 points to close at 26,816, registered a weekly gain of 0.9%, and hit an intraday high of 27,013 and a low of 26,694.

Nasdaq surged 1.3% or 106 points to 8,057 points, and posted a weekly gain of 0.9%, with a high of 8,115 and a low of 8,046.

S&P 500 rose by 1.1% or 32 points to close at 2,970 points, and notched a weekly gain of 0.6%, with a session-high of 2,993 and a low of 2,963.